Weekends at the lake never turn out the way I expect them too. I actually did not look at the forecast when we decided to visit our uncle at his home on the lake in Alabama and we ended up being rained out the first day. We still managed to have some fun and were able to go out on the pontoon twice. The boys favorite activity was the boat ride taking us to a small island with a swing rope they could use to jump in the lake. I brought some books along to read so the half day it rained and thundered, I enjoyed some quiet time with…

You might have had a glimpse of the sculpture garden in Monday’s blog post: this was another of my favorite spots we visited in New Orleans. It is free (donations are appreciated) and quite a large garden with water features, sculptures and walkways. It is located in the City Park area in New Orleans which is a great spot for families with playgrounds, the botanical gardens, the museum of Art and much more. The setting for the garden is quite beautiful. I am always taken by water features whether it is a fountain, a river, a pond or lake. Add a bridge and will sit there and enjoy the scenery!…

One of the things we wanted to do on our trip to New Orleans was to go on a swamp tour. We drove about 45 min to Slidell to take a tour with Cajun Encounters. We chose this one because it was recommend to us and was well priced for our family of 6: it is about $32 for adults 13 and older and $22 for children. The boat held 20 people and took you on a 2 hour tour through Honey Island Swamp and the river. The tour first starts on the river and the boat takes up speed to get to an area where the alligators are known…

The botanical gardens might have been one of my favorite places to visit in New Orleans apart from walking around the French quarter and admiring all of the different buildings. The admission is pretty inexpensive even for a family of 6 with $10 for adults 13 and older and $5 for children. It is located in the city park area of town which also boasts the Museum of Art, the sculpture garden, some playgrounds and also a Cafe du Monde. The botanical gardens were very pretty with many plants in bloom and different sections. I loved the long expanses of graces with hedges or fountains. I like the architectural elements…

This post concludes my short series focusing on the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. We really enjoyed our visit and this beautiful space reminded me how much I like flowers and plants even if I do not have a green thumb. Not too much was in full bloom when we visited (the orchids area was closed, the tulips were gone and the roses were not there yet) but it was still beautiful. This beautiful plant is a flame azalea: I would have guessed it was a type of honeysuckle. Gorgeous! I used to have a camelia bush… it died! I am not one to water plants so when I try to grow…

When I uploaded the pictures for my Atlanta Botanical Gardens posts, I realized that I wanted to separate them in a couple more posts as I wanted you to soak the beauty in and not be overwhelmed my too many pictures. This post is focusing on different areas of the gardens that inspired me with their beauty or that the boys and I particularly enjoyed. This might be one of the most known features of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. It was part of a large exhibition some years ago and the “Earth Goddess” is usually covered by many annuals. It is in located in the Cascade Gardens which you reach…

A few weeks ago, a friend and I planned a playdate at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with our youngests and after some deliberation, I decided to also take his two brothers as I was already planning to take them out of school early as it was Holy Friday. They really enjoyed our outing and are voting that we get our own family membership to the gardens. We were very thankful to be able to go free with our friend but would love the opportunity to go at any time. It was also Earth day so there were a few activities for the children and the weather was a nice spring…